Oscillating tunneling machine



Nov. 28, 1967 J HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATING TUNNELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1966 18 Sheets-Sheet 1 w M -J MRS, w, N

INVENTORS JOfl/V 61 1 /45/ 587 5/09/4999 14 444585 Nov. 28, 1967 J. c. HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATING TUNNELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1966 18 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS Jay/V 6. 1 /45/ 597 NOV. 28, 1967 c, HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATING TUNNELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1966 18 heets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS Jo /v 6: #051 58 emu/920 fi. 14/411585 BY Nov. 28, 1967 J. c. HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

O5CILLATING PUNNELING MACHINE l8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 7, 1966 a 5 7 H W5 N WW e i m y p r J Nov. 28, 1967 J. c. HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATING TUNNELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1966 18 Sheets-Sheet 'a 25 INVENTORS JOH/V a. #452527 206 260 8/644604 #444456 Nov. 28, 1967 J c, HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATINU TUNNELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1966 18 Sheets-Sheet 6 I N VE N TORS JOA A C. H4 5/ 58 19/634,480 ,4. 14/444585 ET AL 3,355,215

Nov. 28, 1967 J. c. HASPERT OSCILLATIN' TUNNELING MACH [NB Filed Nov. 7,

Nov.,28, 1967 c, HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATING TUNNLLING MACHINE l8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Nov. 7, 1966 ArrmeA/al 1967 J. c. HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATINU TUNNELING MACH [NE 18 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Nov. 7, 1966 Nov. 28, 1967 HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

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OSCILLATINU TUNNELING MACHINE l8 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed Nov. '7, 1966 S T M I Ma d 24% N #0 e 2 m %w 7 W p J w /2 My 6 i Z w d 5 Nov. 28, 1967 J. c. HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

' OSCILLATIN' TUN NELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1966 l8 Sheets-Sheet 12 INVENTORY JOHN C. AIQSPEQT e/(H490 4. (0414695 NOV. 28, 1967 J c, HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATING TUNNELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1966 18 Sheets-Sheet 15 3 ans 4M A77702/VE'KI Nov. 28, 1967 J. c, HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATIN'G TUNNELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1966 18 Sheets-Sheet 15 E INVENTORJ A JOA/A/C #451 587 I e/czmeaawfluaw Mw W A rive/v04 Nov. 28, 1967 J c HASPERT ETAL 3,355,215

OSCILLATING TUNNELING MACHINE l8 Sheets-Sheet 16 Filed Nov. 7, 1966 NVENTORS JOHN 62 644L 52? 3/67/420 14. (0444525 M ,v W

Nov. 28, 1967 c, HASPERT ET AL 3,355,215

OSCILLATINC' TUNNELING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1966 18 Sheets-Sheet 17 INVENTORJ JOAW c. #451 6??? JQ /CHH/PO 6? 604446?! United States Patent 3,355,215 1 OSCILLATING TUNNELING MACHINE John C. Haspert, Arcadia, and Richard A. Wallers, Newport Beach, Calif., assignors to Smith Industries International, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif a corporation of California Filed Nov. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 592,518 44 Claims. (Cl. 299-60) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tunneling machine having two separate cutting heads each of which cuts its own individual portion of the tunnel face, and each of which is driven by its own separate drive means so as to permit individual control of the cutting action on the different portions of the tunnel face; each cutting head being driven in an oscillating action by a hydraulic linear accelerator which is disposed parallel to the plane of oscillation of the cutting head and coupled between the frame of the machine and the cutting head.

Background of the invention This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser. No. 308,843, filed Sept. 13, 1963, and entitled, Oscillating Tunneling Machine, and now abandoned.

It is well known in the art that a variety of earth formations are encountered in tunneling operations. These earth formations may be broadly classified as relatively soft homogeneous formations, relatively hard homogeneous formations, and non-homogeneous formations. Relatively soft homogeneous formations are those which consist of relatively soft material, such as sand, clay, shale, soil or the like, and present a generaly homogeneous tunnel face, that is a tunnel face consisting substantially entirely of such soft material. Relatively hard homogeneous formations are those which consist of relatively hard material, such as rock, granite, or the like, and present a generaly homogeneous tunnel face of such hard material. Non-homogeneous formations are those which consist of both relatively hard and soft materials and present a tunnel face composed partly of relatively hard material and partly of relatively soft material. As will appear fromtions. In this regard, for example, the preferred embodiment of, the invention is uniquely constructed and arranged for use in both of these latter types of formations;

Generally speaking, a typical conventional. tunneling machine has a frame mounting a forward rotary cutter, or cutting wheel, means for driving the cutting wheel in rotation, means for feeding the cutting wheel forwardly against the tunnel face to effect a cutting action on the face, and conveyor means for removing the dirt, rock, sand, and other debris, herein referred to simply as debris, removed by the cutting wheel. In some cases, the cutting wheel is fed against the tunnel face by driving the entire machine structure, that is machine frame and cutting wheel, forwardly as a unit in stepwise fashion. In other cases, the cutting wheel is fed into the tunnel face by alternately driving the cutting wheel forwardly relative to the frame in a feed stroke and thereafter driving the frame forwardly relative to the cutting wheel in a repositioning stroke, thus to condition the machinefor the following "ice feed stroke of the cutting wheel. In many tunneling operations, particularly those which involve driving a tunnel through relatively soft formations, a tunnel liner is installed, section by section, behind the tunneling machine as the latter advances. Those tunneling machines which are designed for use in such relatively soft formations, or both relatively hard and soft formations, are generally equipped with an outer cylindrical casing or shell which forms part of the machine frame and serves to support the tunnel wall in the region between the cutting wheel and tunnel liner, as well as to shield the operating personnel of the machine against falling rock and other debris. The rear end of this shell defines a tail shield within which the additional sections of tunnel liner are assembled and secured to the leading end of the previously installed liner, following each feed stroke of the machine.

The existing tunneling machines have certain inherent deficiencies which this invention seeks to overcome. One of these deficiencies resides in the manner in which driving power or torque is transmitted to the rotary cutting wheel. Thus, in most if not all existing tunneling machines, the rotary cutting wheel is attached to the front end of a relatively long shaft which is rotatably supported in a number of axially spaced bearings on the machine frame. Driving power for the cutting wheel is furnished by several drive motors, typically hydraulic motors, which are mounted on the frame at the rear end of this shaft and are geared or otherwise drivably coupled to the shaft. This drive arrangement has several drawbacks. In the first place, the cutting wheel shaft is generally quite long and driving torque is transmitted through the entire length of the shaft, from the drive motors at the rear end of the ice, repair, and replace, when necessary, particularly within the confines of a tunnel. Another serious drawback of this type of cutter drive arrangement resides in the fact that the overall torque train for transmitting driving torque to the cutting wheel, i.e., the cutter shaft, shaft bearings, bearing supports, drive motors, and power transmission between the motors and shaft, is quite bulky and results in a relatively massive tunneling machine of large overall size which is extremely diflicult and time consuming to I install in and remove from a tunnel bore. Also, of course, a torque train of this type embodies a great number of movable precision parts in addition to the cutter shaft and bearings which add to the overall machine cost and render the machine prone to failure or other malfunctioning. A further serious drawback of the existing cutter drive arrangements is that the torque train embodied therein, with, its long torque shaft and many moving parts, consumes substantial power owing to friction and other losses. As a consequence, the existing tunneling machines are relatively inefiicient and require large drive motors to provide the necessary driving torque at the cutting wheel.

One important aspect of the present invention is concerned with avoiding the above noted deficiencies of the existing tunneling machines. According to this aspect of the invention, the rotary cutting head or wheel of the existing machines is replaced by oscillatory cutter means having forward cutting head means which mount the cutting teeth or other cutting elements. The cutting means are driven in oscillation by linear actuators, such as hydraulic cutter actuating rams, which are operatively connected directly between the cutting head means and the machine frame. As a consequence, driving torque is transmitted directly to the cutting head means, thus eliminating the need for a massive cutter shaft for transmitting cutter driving torque. This relatively simple, direct drive torque train of the invention obviously achieves a substantial reduction in the overall size, complexity, and cost of the tunneling machine, number of moving parts and power loss in the torque train, and renders the torque train, and hence the overall machine, less prone to failure or other malfunctioning. Moreover, the direct drive torque train of the invention is much easier to service, repair, and replace, when necessary, particularly within the confines of a tunnel. Another advantage of the present invention resides in the fact that it permits removal of the entire cutting mechanism, including the oscillatory cutter means, torque train, and the necessary supporting structure therefor, from the outer shell of the tunneling machine, thereby to adapt the machine to tunneling through relatively soft or fiuent formations, such as sand, mud, and the like, by driving the shell only forwardly through the formation in such a way as to shear the tunnel wall, in the manner hereinafter explained.

Another outstanding deficiency of the existing tunneling machines is observed when these machines encounter a non-homogeneous earth formation. As noted earlier, such a non-homogeneous formation is one which presents a tunnel face composed, in part, of relatively hard material, such as rock, and, in part, of relatively soft material, such as sand. In these cases, the rotating cutting wheel of the existing tunneling machines continues to work both the hard and soft portions of the tunnel face equally, with the result that material from the soft face portion is either removed at an excessive rate, or the latter face portion collapses, thereby overloading the machine. The existing tunneling machines are also deficient owing to the relatively inefiicient and costly manner in which these machines induce drift, either to counteract an opposing drift tendency created by the surrounding earth formation or to change the direction of the tunnel.

According to a further important aspect of the present invention, the defects, just discussed, of the existing tunneling machines are cured by equipping the present tunneling machine with a number of separate cutters which may be selectively operated either independently or in unison at variable speeds. These several cutters have cutting heads which together sweep a total or combined effec'tive cutting area having a frontal projection, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the machine, which at least approximates the frontal area of the machine, thus to enable the cutters to produce a tunnel bore large enough to pass the tunneling machine. The several cutters sweep different portions of this total effective cutting area. Accordingly, when a non-homogeneous tunnel face formation is encountered, the cutter or cutters which work the hard portion of the face formation may be operated at optimum speed, while the remaining cutters which work the soft portion of the face formation may be operated at reduced speed, or stopped entirely, as necessary to achieve optimum or generally uniform removal of material over the entire area of the tunnel face. Moreover, the oscillatory cutting heads mount gauge cutters which are radially adjustable to induce drift of the tunneling machine ina preselected direction, either to counteract an opposing drift tendency induced by the surrounding earth formation or to change the tunnel direction, in such a way as to avoid the high costs and other disadvantages attendant to drift control in the existing tunneling machines.

The existing tunneling machines have still a further deficiency with which the present invention is concerned. This latterdeficiency appears when the tunneling machines encounter sandy or other relatively soft or fluent formations and results from the fact that the plane of rotation ofthe cutting head or wheel of the existing tunneling machines is normal to the longi udinal ax s of th machines. As a consequence,, the cutting heads tend to cut a tunnel face which is generally vertical. While such a vertical tunnel face is satisfactory in rock and other relatively hard formations, it is quite unsatisfactory in sandy and other relatively soft or fluent formations which possess insufficient shear strength to prevent their collapse. As a consequence, when the existing machines tunnel through these latter formations, breast boards, or the like, must be installed at the tunnel face to reinforce the latter against collapse and the tunnel face is worked by hand or with the aid of a so-called up-and-over tractor shovel, or the like. The rate of advance of the tunnel is thus materially reduced, and the task of driving the tunnel becomes substantially more laborious and hazardous.

A further aspect of the present invention is concerned with this problem of tunneling through relatively soft formations. According to this aspect, the invention provides a tunneling machine in which the cutting plane of the cutter means is inclined at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the machine in such a way that this plane slopes forwardly in the upward direction. As a consequence, the cutter means are disposed to cut an inclined tunnel face which slopes toward the tunnel bore in the direction of the base of the tunnel face, whereby collapse of the face is inhibited. According to the preferred practice of the invention, for example, the cutting plane of the cutter means is inclined at an angle on the order of 1030 from the vertical, thereby to cut atunnel face at the optimum angle of repose for sandy and other relatively soft formations.

A further unique feature of this form of the invention resides in the fact that the tunneling machine is equipped with an outer casing or shell having a leading edge which may be disposed in a plane parallel to the cutting plane of the cutter means to provide the shell with a front overhang which supports the portion of the tunnel crown located directly over the inclined tunnel face. This leading edge of the shell is beveled or sharpened to form an earth shearing edge which may be employed to shear the tunnel wall when the shell is driven forwardly through the formation. In this regard, the present tunneling machine is uniquely arranged to permit removal of the cutter means and the cutter drive torque train from the shell, and the substitution therefor of breast boards, thereby to adapt the machine for tunneling through sandy and other extremely soft formations by driving the essentially empty shell forwardly through the formation,

At this point, therefore, it is apparent that the present invention contributes several unique and highly important improvements to the tunneling art. It is further apparent that a tunneling machine according to the invention may embody, to considerable advantage, any one or more of these improvement. For example, a number of tunneling machines according to the invention are hereinafter described, certain of which embody the oscillatory cutter and direct cutter drive features of the invention. In these machines, the oscillatory cutters have a common axis of oscillation which coincides approximately with the longitudinal axis of the machine. and a cutting plane which is normal to this axis. The cutters are oscillated in unison in opposite directions in such a way as to minimize or eliminate reaction torque on the machine frame. Restraint of these tunneling machines against turning in the tunnel bore is thus greatly simplified. Another unique feature of these illustrative tunneling machines resides in the fact that the cutting teeth or cutting elements on the oscillatory cutters are designed to effect a cutting action in both directions of oscillation of the cutters.

There is also hereinafter disclosed a preferred form of the present tunneling machine which embodies all of the several features of the invention heretofore discussed. Thus, this preferred tunneling machine of the invention has multiple oscillatory cutters whose plane of oscillation is inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of the 

1. IN A TUNNELING MACHINE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING: A FRAME HAVING A FRONT END ADAPTED TO BE PROGRESSIVELY ADVANCED TOWARD A TUNNEL FACE WHICH IS TO BE CUT; A CUTTING HEAD FOR ENGAGING THE TUNNEL FACE AND ADAPTED FOR OSCILLATORY MOVEMENT IN A PLANE PARALLEL TO THE TUNNEL FACE; MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTING SAID CUTTING HEAD ON SAID FRAME FOR OSCILLATION OF SAID CUTTING HEAD IN SAID PLANE; LINEAR ACTUATING MEANS DISPOSED IN A PLANE PARALLEL TO SAID PLANE OF OSCILLATION AND ADAPTED FOR RECIPROCATING LINEAR EXTENSION AND RETRACTION; AND MEANS COUPLING SAID ACTUATING MEANS TO SAID FRAME AND TO SAID CUTTING HEAD SO THAT SAID ACTUTING MEANS PRODUCES OSCILLATION OF SAID CUTTING HEAD IN SAID PLANE OF OSCILLATION. 